THE LIVING WORLD. 
233 
shutting the door. There is no need of weather strips, for this builder, unlike 
the clumsy human carpenter, makes his joints to fit with the greatest accuracy. 
Moreover, the outer side of the door is made in the pattern of a fungus, or a 
lichen, so that the plants themselves would be deceived, and if it lie near the 
surface it is colored so as to resemble the ground in which it is placed. 
Another species select an elevated 
plot of ground so as to secure very 
good drainage and consequent sani¬ 
tation. Digging a gallery of as 
great a depth as two feet, she lines 
this with the softest and most 
attractive silken tapestry. 
The Crooked-Legged Crab 
Spider (Thomisus vatens). This 
is not a true spider, but a crus¬ 
tacean, still in form and predatory 
habits it resembles the spider 
sufficiently to deserve the popular 
name which it has earned. 
The Water Spider (Argyro¬ 
ne ta aquatica) is amphibious, or 
able to live with equal ease and 
MASON SPIDER {M. ccementaria). 
comfort upon either land or water. When 
living in water he encases himself in a bubble 
of air; weaving a silken bag with an opening 
below, he attaches this to a plant; climbing 
upon the outer threads he awaits at the surface 
the coming of a bubble of air, which he 
seizes with his hind feet and bears below for 
the proper ventilation of his dwelling. 
The Bird Spider (Mygale avicularia ) is 
of immense size for an insect and of marked 
muscular power. It is found commonly in 
South America, being abundant in Guiana. It nests in trees, and captures the 
smaller birds, and also lizards or frogs, which it leaps upon after the manner 
of a tiger. There has been some dispute among naturalists respecting the habits 
of this spider in catching birds, but the fact is now well established. Its body 
is dark black and is covered with reddish brown hairs. 
